TO BURN THE SUN
(MEMBAKAR MATAHARI)
dir. Arizal, 1981
90 mins. Indonesia.
In dubbed English.

SATURDAY, JUNE 15 – 1 PM

The first of over a dozen collaborations between Dutch-Indonesian martial arts star Barry Prima (THE WARRIOR) and the lovely Eva Arnaz (THE WARRIOR), TO BURN THE SUN is the most hand-to-hand-combat intensive film in the Arizal canon. Arnaz is the film’s true protagonist—a young woman whose village was raided by bandits that stole her innocence and slaughtered her family. She was forced into a life of prostitution in capital city Jarkata, which is where Prima spies her escorting a customer in a night club. The two had been lovers once, and with this chance meeting they make arrangements to elope and return home. Naturally, this unsettles her pimp, whose thugs land Prima in the hospital (but not without an epic fight). Arnaz flees to her village, where her grandfather schools her in the deadly art of karate. With a newfound confidence and deadly resolve, she sets her sights on vengeance.

TO BURN THE SUN is without a doubt the most obscure item in Arizal’s catalog, and one that plays most directly to classic exploitation tropes. Arnaz’s performance suggests Meiko Kaji (LADY SNOWBLOOD, the FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION series), and she and Prima share a unique chemistry developed even further in SPECIAL SILENCERS and budded offscreen into a full-fledged marriage. The soundtrack is aided by some decidedly rockin’ Asian-tinged electrofunk rock.